My Sweetness and Sourness

Since last Saturday I’ve been craving lemon rice and ANYTHING Vietnamese…but somehow I have been too busy to even step into the kitchen for the last few days. I know, I miss my darling spatulas!

Besides, I’ve promised myself, I will not be baking anything during the course of this week. I’ve been hogging on strawberry ice-cream so far to satisfy my sweet cravings. But today I’ve finally managed to whip up some special lemon rice for myself and made it go along with honey prawns with a dash of sour-n-salty.

Lemon Rice:

– 1 cup of cooked rice

– 1 tablespoon mustard seeds

– 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

– 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi)

– 1 large whole dry red chili

– 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

– A pinch of salt to taste

– 1 tablespoon of toasted peanuts/almonds/cashews

– 1 tablespoon of curry leaves

Heat oil in a pan. On medium heat, add the red chili, mustard seeds, curry leaves and fenugreek seeds and let them crackle. Stir till the fenugreek seeds start to brown. Add the cooked rice and lemon juice. Stir to mix well and remove from heat taking care so the rice does not stick to the sides and bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with toasted nuts.

Honey Prawns:

– 500gms medium-sized prawns

– 2 medium-sized onions finely chopped

– 2 tablespoons chopped garlic

– 1 teaspoon ginger, sliced in strips

– 1/4 cup soy sauce

– 5 tablespoons of honey

– 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

– 2 green chilies finely chopped

– 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

– 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

– salt and pepper to taste

– 3 tablespoons of olive oil

– Chopped coriander to garnish

– 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Marinate the prawns with a teaspoon of salt. Heat oil in a pan. Fry the prawns till the edges turn golden brown and remove them from the pan. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and fry till the onions start to brown. Add the red chili powder, chopped green chilies, vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and cook over medium heat for a minute. Put the fried prawns back into the pan and add the honey. Add half a cup of water and the cornstarch. Cover and cook on low heat for 15 minutes. If you need a thicker gravy just boil it uncovered, to reduce. Garnish with chopped coriander.